On certain fundamental issues in continuum damage mechanics

Abstract

In this article, we discuss three fundamental issues in continuum damage mechanics. First, we investigate the nature of the damage process. For this purpose, we dissect the expression of the effective stress into an infinite geometric series and introduce several stages of damage that we call primary damage, secondary damage, tertiary damage, etc. The second issue to be discussed is the problem of small damage. In this regard, we introduce a new definition of the damage variable that is suitable for small-damage cases. Finally, we discuss the new concept of undamageable materials. These are currently hypothetical materials that maintain a zero value of the damage variable throughout the deformation process. It is hoped that these proposed new types of materials will open the way to new areas of research in both damage mechanics and materials science.

Keywords

• damage
• damage mechanics
• small damage
• undamageable
• undamageable material